Capital High senior Michael King just completed his final football season with the Bruins. King played running back, kicker and kickoff returner.

He played in all three of Capital’s latest state football championships. As a sophomore, King was the kickoff man during the Bruins’ 31-17 win over Billings West.

In the 30-27 title victory over Billings Senior in 2007, he booted four extra points and a 35-yard field goal.

Last weekend, when Capital achieved its three-peat with a 35-14 win over West, King and quarterback Matt Reyant electrified the crowd with a 75-yard scoring strike. King also ran for 25 yards, and was a perfect 5-for-5 in PAT kicks.

He ends his high school grid career at Capital with at least six school records; 177 season total points scored, 75 kicking points (63 PATs, four field goals), 63 season PATs, 18 season kickoff returns, 188 game kickoff return yards and 529 season kickoff return yards.

For his career, King rushed for 1,496 yards, for a 7.4 yard average and 20 touchdowns. He posted 31 receptions for 392 yards, with six TD catches, and returned 33 kickoffs for 803 yards and a 24.5 average.

He also returned three kickoffs for touchdowns, the longest going for 94 yards. He finished with a lifetime total of 2,691 all-purpose yards, amassing 29 touchdowns for 174 points. King booted an overall 71 PATs and five field goals, for 86 points. For his career, he scored a combined total of 260 points.

The 5-foot-11, 160-pound King was able to accomplish all this despite missing the entire summer of 2008 while recovering from major surgery. Last May, one of his upper ribs was removed in an attempt to break up two blood clots above his heart.

“Michael King is probably in the top three of running backs I have coached,” said Bruins coach Pat Murphy. “He possesses a tremendous burst to the line of scrimmage, and has great speed.

King has been timed at 4.7 seconds in the 40-yard sprint.

“He made a lot of plays the last two years that not very many high school running backs could make,” Murphy said. “The thing I will always remember about Michael, is how well he always played in the big games.”

King started out playing Small Fry football, with his fifth-grade Universal Athletic Service team winning the city championship. In the weight room, his favorite lift is squats. He said that a normal workout consists of 200 pounds, 10 sets of 10-15 repetitions.

King is on pace to earn eight letters for the Bruins — four each in football and track. He runs the sprints and relays for Capital. His best times to date are 11.2 seconds in the 100-meters, and 23.8 seconds in the 200.

Q How did you become interested in playing football?

A When I was little, my dad taught me how to play. We’d always go outside and play catch and kick the ball around. He took me to all the local games, I got inspired by watching the high school kids play. He liked Dallas, and I watched a lot of those Cowboys games on our TV.

Q What was the purpose of your operation last spring, and what are the after-effects?

A I have two blood clots above my heart, which were restricting the flow of blood to my left arm. So they took out one of my ribs. I was not allowed to do any training until August. The hope was to break loose the clots, but it didn’t really work — they’re still there. I was on blood thinners for a while, and now I’ll probably have to take aspirin for the rest of my life.

Q Discounting the onfield rivalry with Helena High, do you have any friends on the Bengals?

A Yes, Nick Trapp and Danny Volesky. We hang out and do things together during the off season.

Q Of the three championships, which was your favorite?

AThe last one. It means the most because it came my senior year.

Q What are your plans for college?

A I would like to play football in college, but haven’t had any offers yet. As for a major, I’m interested in going into physical therapy.

Reporter Curt Synness: 449-2150 or curt52s@bresnan.net